Customer Reviews
Accessible insight, for the rest of us... - By: H. Cox, 15 Jan 2007 
Very interesting book. Fortunately for those of us who do not have any genuine matehematical / physics background, we are able to easily graps the basic concepts & key ideas that make this equation so fascinating.
Well written & informative.
spot on - By: chapstick, 02 Aug 2006 
This is the kind of book that makes science interesting. Bodanis knows what the regular reader is wondering, & respondsin an easy, accessible way. I started this book with no idea what the equation meant, & understood it pretty well by the end, but more importantly actually enjoyed reading it.
I'm an editor & writer by profession, & found the writing really absorbing. And criticisms of the book's level from professional scientists are a little bizarre - why buy such a book if you understand the topic thoroughly? For me it hit the spot, entertained me, & frankly gave as much depth as I was looking for. I can't wait to read Bodanis' next book.
If you think the the cover is awful, try the content. - By: Mr. John B. Franklin, 25 Jun 2006 
If you want to understand e=mc2, & all it implies, there are many good books out there, this isn't one of them.
You might expect that to write a book on this subject, the author would have to have a good grasp of it himself. If you read as far as page 117 you will see that this is clearly not the case.
The explanation for why the speed of light should be so fundamental is, well, not actually an explanation of anything. It also seems that e=mv2 replaced e=mv simply because e=mv failed to produce the right answers. So why not e=mv3, or e=mv1/6?
A truly badly written book full of inaccuracies & misunderstandings.
simple and clear - By: , 07 Dec 2005 This is one of the best science books i have ever read. It was fascinating to learn the history of each componant of the formula. Then, the author explains how einstein puts it all together & how this simple equation has transformed our world. It is easy to follow, examples & explanations refer to modern times & everyday life.
If you are curious about how things work & history but don't know that much about either, this book is for you.
I did not undestand the equation after reading this book! - By: , 04 Mar 2005 
Agree with frure's comments below. This book is so generalized & simplified that I didn't understand anything. I still don't understand why the speed of light is the factor required to balance energy & mass, why a body's mass increases when it approches the speed of light, why the speed of light is the universe's maximum speed, why velocity needs to be squared. In other words this book fails to do what it claims. I gave it two stars because it is interesting to read & because the guide to further readingin the appendix is very good.
